Proposed burn of M6 a health risk

North Louisiana faces an enormous public health risk from the proposed open-tray burn of chemical explosives at Camp Minden. This emergency remediation stems from the illegal storage of 16 million pounds of M6 propellant by Explo Systems at Camp Minden.

This represents one of worst-ever cases of criminal negligence in the storage of explosives at a military contract site in U.S. history. It was due to a combination of gross incompetence by the contractor and very poor site supervision by the U.S. Army that we now face this very serious predicament with limited alternatives.

M6 is used as an explosive propellant for launching artillery shells. It mainly consists of nitrocellulose, a highly explosive material, which is chemically unstable and slowly degrades upon standing, becoming increasingly shock-sensitive over time. The three other main components of M6 are all derivatives of aromatic hydrocarbons, each with significant toxicity, ranging from respiratory irritation, carcinogenicity and endocrine disruption. Of greatest concern among these substances are dinitrotoluene and dibutylphthalate.

Dinitrotoluene exists primarily in two different isomeric forms. Both forms are harmful, but the more harmful form is known as 2,6-DNT. This substance has demonstrated highly toxic effects in studies conducted on both dogs and mice, including anorexic weight loss; neuromuscular incoordination, and rigid paralysis of the hind legs. 2,6-DNT is also a known carcinogen, which has been shown to cause liver and kidney cancer in mice, and it is estimated that about 20 percent of the DNT in M6 is of the 2,6-isomeric form. It also has moderate water solubility and can even be taken up by plants and wildlife, where some is stored in their tissues. DNT is toxic if it is breathed, orally ingested, or absorbed through the skin.

Another harmful component of M6 is dibutylphthalate (DBP). This substance was formerly used as an ingredient in some nail polishes, but it was banned in 2006, because it was found to be a powerful endocrine disruptor, causing reproductive damage in adults as well as developmental abnormalities in human fetuses, particularly the abnormal development of male genitalia.

Of chief concern in the proposed open-tray burn are the thermal stability and moderate volatility of these aromatic compounds. Both DNT and DBP have modest boiling points (around 300 °C) and both are quite stable to heat, in contrast to some readily combustible hydrocarbons (like those found in gasoline). This means that rather than being combusted in the flames during an open-tray burn, significant amounts of these materials may simply vaporize and become airborne.

Once airborne, these chemicals and their partially-combusted toxic byproducts could endanger both human health and wildlife many miles away, not only in Doyline and Minden, but also in Ruston and even the Shreveport-Bossier and Monroe metropolitan areas.

As a concerned citizen, I have asked to see a copy of the environmental impact study for this proposed chemical burn. I am told, however, that no such study exists and that the EPA has granted the Army an exemption from conducting a bona fide environmental impact study, due to the urgency of the situation, involving such vast amounts of unstable explosives, concentrated at this single site.

This is unacceptable. Not only must the explosive risks be considered here, but also the potentially serious long-term human health effects from an open-air burn of these toxic chemicals. We definitely need to consider other alternatives to the proposed plan. We owe this both to ourselves and to future generations.